The 2014 PDRA Pro Extreme Motorcycle
World Champion comes as no surprise.
Eric McKinney dominated the class in
the PDRA’s inaugural season, winning
four of the eight events, a feat which
has led to his third straight PXM
overall title. He soared to the PXM
lead and held it easily, coming in
1200 points ahead of the man who will
number two in 2015, Ashley Owens.
Owens also happens to be McKinney’s
teammate and tuner. Owens also won an
event title this season, giving the
duo a better than .500 record for the
season, a feat not easy in any sport,
but nearly unheard of within drag
racing. McKinney says his wins this
year bring his total wins close to 20.

“It’s pretty awesome to have such a
great season and especially to do it
with the PDRA,” McKinney elaborated.
“The guys four guys that are behind
all this are racers and they try to
give back to us. The whole season has
been great. It’s very racer friendly.
The tech guys are great. To me it
means more because you feel
appreciated, not just another racer
that won another championship. They’ve
always been appreciative of us and
made sure they were doing the right
things. The PDRA is awesome. It means
the world to me to win the first PXM
Championship with them.”

At just 29 years old much
of McKinney’s career presumably still lies ahead of him. With the 2009
AMA Dragbike Championship also to his credit, it’s clear that his
success is no fluke. “We’ve been consistent and just been plugging
away,” he continued. “We’ve just been trying to do what we need to do
and stay out in front of everybody. Our team is the best there is. I
would put them up against anybody. It’s a family deal. My dad is my
Crew Chief. My Uncle Steve works on the clutch. Ashley oversees the
tuning on both bikes. We have two bikes so we get double the data and
everything is consistent. I think we can go faster, but if we stay
where we stay we’re not breaking any parts.”

Pro Extreme Motorcycle is easily a fan-favorite class, and the PDRA is
the only place fans can see these types of bikes race professionally.
Although class participation has varied over the years, it looks to be
making a strong comeback. As a frontrunner for the class, McKinney is
glad to see the competition level rising and more teams coming on
board.

“At the last two races they had over 20 bikes on the property at each
track. Everybody is running close. At the last race, we were the
number one qualifier but the only thing that separated number one from
number three was the mile per hour. Each of us ran 4.065. So the class
is tightening up and I hope it continues to grow. There’s really no
other place to race these things.”

“I want to thank my mom and dad for allowing me to field a bike and
helping me be successful,” he added. “They’re funding the way for our
team. Of course I also want to thank my Uncle Steve and Ashley Owens,
PMFR Chassis, Vance & Hines, Fast by Gast, the PDRA for giving us a
place to race, as well as Mickey Thompson Tires. They’ve been a big
help.”

McKinney will wear the number one for his third year in a row in 2015,
with teammate Ashley Owens sporting his hard-earned number two. The
PXM top 10 in points rounds out with Travis Davis, Terry Schweigert,
Ronald Procopio Jr., Paul Gast, Jay Fisher, Christopher Garner, Casey
Stemper, David Norris, and Billy Vose.